Hiroko’s Diary

5月からCEPIOという英語の発音矯正クラスに通っています。

I started to go to an English school called CEPIO where people can work on pronounciation.   I had a class yesterday.

発音矯正という学校があるなんて全然知りませんでした。

I didn’t know that there was a school like that.

英語を勉強する上で一番難しいのはいかにnaturalな英語を発話するかではないでしょうか？

The most difficult thing in learning English for Japanese might be speaking and pronounciation plays a big role in it.

CEPIOでは毎回一つの発音記号を口の形、舌の位置を教えてもらいながら勉強していきます。

I learn the exact shape of mouth and the location of tongue in my mouth to pronouce each sound.

日本語を話すときはあまり口を縦に大きく開けたり、口角を上にあげて横に引っ張ったまま発音したりということはないのでこのトレーニングは意識して練習しないとなかなか難しいです。

When we speak Japanese, we don’t open our mouths so big as native English speakers do, therefore we need to intentionally  move our mouths and tongues according to the instruction by a teacher.

これがなかなか面白くて家でも鏡を持ちながら自分の口と舌の形を見ながら発音練習しています。

The lessons at CEPIO are very stimulating and I practice a lot watching my mouth and tongue in a hand glass.

昨日で全９回の英検１級対策クラスが終了しました。

I’d done with all the classes for the Eiken course I took yesterday. 

まず一言、受講して本当によかったです。

I’m really satisfied with all the lessons and I can feel confident that I was able to complete.

何が一番良かったか？

What was the most appreciate thing in the course?

たくさんありますが一番良かったのは毎日日本語と英語の新聞を読むようになったおかげで視野が広がったこと！そんなこと今までしてなかったの？と突っ込まれそうですが、してなかったんです。

It’s that I got into the habit of reading a newspaper both in Japanese and English.   To my shame I must confess that before taking the course, I didn’t even read a newspaper everyday.    Needless to say, by reading newspaper, I’ve got to know a lot of things happening all over the world.

英検１級の試験となると英語の実力はもとより、国内・世界情勢に精通している必要がありエッセイの中ではある一つの事象について賛成または反対の立場で自分の意見を述べていかなければいけません。

Speaking of the first grade of Eiken, sufficient English proficiency is not enough.  You need to know what’s happening all over the world.  In an essay, you have to write about one topic offered and you need to exemplify your thought, whether you agree with it or not, and  the reason you think so is also required.

私が悪戦苦闘しているのはこのエッセイですが、これまで自分の頭の中であいまいだったこと、たとえば地球温暖化対策として私個人として何ができるか？というようなことが文章にすることによって実際の生活にもかなりの影響を与えることがわかりました。

As I wrote here before, I’ve been struggling with writing an essay.  But something in my mind that has been vague have been clarified by writing an essay.  For example, I’d been thinking what I could do to prevent environmental deteriolation, but I didn’t find the concrete idea.  However, by writing an essay about global warming, I was able to find what I can do.

ブログを書くのとは違い論理立てて誰が読んでも納得できる文章を書くためにはかなりの訓練が要ります。まあ、もともとできる人はともかく、私の場合はとっても時間がかかります。でも、それをする過程が楽しくなってきました。

Different from writing a blog, when you are required to write a logical essay that makes everyone consent, you need enough knowledge.   At least in my case, a lot of time is needed.  But gradually, I’ve come to feel challenging to write an essay.

４月１３日（日）にジャズチャンツセミナーがありました。そこで無事「ジャズチャンツ指導者養成講座」の修了証書をいただきました。

I participated in the Jazz Chants Seminar on 13th of Apr., and I received a certificate that shows I completed required units.

証書にはジャズチャンツユニオンのチェアーでいらっしゃる生駒先生とジャズチャンツの創始者、キャロリン・グレアム先生のサインがあり、生駒先生から手渡しでいただいた時は感動と同時にこれからこの証書に恥じないようにジャズチャンツを多くの人に伝えていきたい、いかなければという使命感がわいてきました。

There were signitures by Ikoma-sensei, a chairperson of Jazz Chants Union, and Carolyn Graham, who invented Jazz Chants.   When I received the certificate from Ikoma-sensei, I was moved and at the same time I felt I wanted and had to convey the method of Jazz Chants to as many as Japanese people.

ジャズチャンツに出会ってまだ１年半しか経っていないので、正直まだまだ奥が深く勉強していかなければいけないことがたくさんあります。セミナーはこれからも続けて参加するつもりです。

The first time I encountered with Jazz Chants was about 1 and a half years ago.  There are so many things that I need to study more, therefore I will continue to participate in Jazz Chants seminars.

英検クラスの宿題の多さに早くも脱落気味の私です。

The affluent amount of homework in an English class for Eiken, the certificate, gives me hardship to keep up with the class.

先週１週間は何とか宿題をこなすことが出来ましたが今週は予定通り進まず、気だけが焦っています。

I was barely able to accomplish the homework last week, but I’m confronting with the slow pace of studying this week.

ブログをしている時間があれば宿題をしないと・・・と思いながら、なかなか気が向かず。でも本当にお尻に火が付いてきたのでこれを書き終えたら宿題のエッセイに取り掛かります。

I know that I have to tackle with the homework without writing this on blog, but I don’t feel like to do it.   However, little time is left to finish all the assignments, so I will write an essay, one of the assignments, after finishing this blog. 

英検１級受講クラスのレッスンが始り久しぶりに英字新聞の購読を始めました。

As I’m taking an English class for ‘Eiken’ the first grade, I started to subsciribe to ‘Japan Times’ for the first time in around 20 years. 

実を言うとお恥ずかしながら日本語の新聞ですら毎日読まない日もあるという私なので、朝新聞をしっかり読むという習慣がついていません。

In fact, not everyday I don’t read a newspaper.  I’m ashamed to say that I don’t have a habit to read it everymorning.

仕事をしていた時は読んでいたんだけどなあ~

When I worked, I would read it everyday.

英字新聞は自分が学生の頃、英語の勉強になると思い購読していました。

Regarding an English newspaper, I had subscribed to it when I studied English literature at university.

久し振りということもあり今のところ毎朝新聞が届くのが嬉しくて気になる記事を切り抜いて勉強しファイルに挟んでいっています。

After a long interval, I’m looking forward to reading ‘Japan Times’ every morning.   I prepared a scrapbook.  After I read some articles and looked for new vocabularies in a dictionary, I put the clipped articles into the scrapbook.

今年の私自身の目標として英検１級取得を掲げました。

I set a goal to get the first grade of Eiken, a test in practical English proficiency, this year.

英検１級に関してはこれまであまり興味がなく、どちらかと言えばそんな単語覚えてもどこで使うの？と半ば馬鹿にしていたところがありました。

Regarding the certificate of the first grade of Eiken, I hadn’t been interested in it for a long time.   If anything, I had even thoungt that those words that appear in the test are something we only see on newspapers or monographs and meaningless to study. 

でも、子供たちに英語を教えるようになり更にレベルアップしたいと思うようになりました。勉強会で知り合った英語の先生たちのホームページを見ていた時に英検１級をがんばって取得された方のホームページにたどり着き、触発されたのがきっかけで私も頑張ってみようと思いました。まあ、もともと単純な性格なのですぐ影響されます。

Since I started to teach English to kids, I’ve met a lot of other teachers at seminars and I’ve come to think I want to improve my English more.   And when I was watching at some of the teachers’ website, I found a blog by someone who worked hard to get Eiken, the first grade.   I was influenced by the blog and decided to take the certificate as this year’s goal.

そのブログを書いていた人が英検１級取得講座を開設するということで早速申し込みました。

And in the blog,  it is said that she would open the class for Eiken.  And I applied for it.

来週の月曜日からスタートします。

The class will start from next monday.

課題がたっぷりあるとのことですが途中で挫折しないように頑張りたいと思います。

She informed me that there would be a lot of assignment, so I want to do my best.

これは私が使うテキストのうちの一つです。

This is one of the books I use for the class.

昨日私が受講している「ジャズチャンツ指導者養成講座」の勉強会があり出席してきました。

I participated in a lecture for Jazz Chants trainee course yesterday. 

いつもながら発表された先生方のレッスンプランに刺激を大いに受けて私も頑張ろうと、パワーをたくさんもらいながら帰ってきました。

As usual, I was stimulated by all the teachers’ presentations.  Each lesson plan was filled with enjoyable and thoughtful ideas.   I got power from those teachers and I want to reflect it to my lessons.

ジャズチャンツは言うまでもなく英語のリズムをとても大事にしていてそれこそが私たち日本人に立ちはだかる大きな壁であったりします。

In Jazz Chants,  English rhythm is regarded as the most important element.  And that thythm could be sometimes the biggest obstacle for Japanese people to overcome.

日本語と違い英語には他の単語と比べて強く発音されるもの、また読むスピードも速く流すようにして読む単語とそうでないものがあります。

Unlike Japanse sentences, English sentences have words that are pronounced stronger than others  and the spoken speed is also different from word to word.

日本語と英語の構造が根本的に違うので私たちが発音に苦労するのは仕方がありません。

Language structures of Japanese and English are basically different so we have some troubles in speaking English.

そこでやはり訓練するしかないのです。ジャズチャンツを勉強すると楽しみながらそれを勉強することができるのです。

Therefore, we need to train it.   I believe that Jazz Chants is the best way to learn it.

ジャズチャンツ教授法について興味のある方は次のホームページをご覧ください。

If you are interested in Jazz Chants teaching methods, please check the website as follows.

  http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~jcu/

One of my friends who teaches English recommended a very interesting picture book for my lessons.  The title is “We are going on a bear hunt”.  

 I also found the video on You-tube.  Here is the one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytc0U2WAz4s

In september 2006, I joined a Jazz Chants seminar for the first time.   As soon as the seminar started, my heart was grabed by the rhythm.   Since then I tried to participate in every Jazz Chants seminar and I applied for the certificate course that began last July.   There is one report left to finish the course.   So far, I met wonderful English teachers like whom I want to be in the future.  Whenever I met those teachers, I was stimulated and got power from them.  

Let me appologize for not writing on this blog for a long time.   I’ve been so busy for a couple of months.  

Yesterday, I participated in a “Jazz Chants Seminar”,  for studying English teaching methods using Jazz rhythm.    I had to give a presentation there.   I showed a lesson plan using a song in one of the Jazz chants textbooks.  All the participants were English teachers.  And most of them were very talented teachers.    Can you imagine how nervous I was during the presentation before those teachers?   When I finished it, I was relieaved.   But one of the lecturers pointed out several things that I have to think about more.   Those points are what I also noticed wrong but didn’t know how to change.   After that I felt a little blue, but just before leaving the place, another lecturer said to me “It was a wonderful presentation”.   At that time I was so happy that I felt as if I were walking in the sky.    

Jazz Chants was created by Carolyn Graham, an American English teacher.   While she had been teaching English at University, she also worked as a Jazz singer at a Jazz bar.   One day she thought that Jazz rhythm would help teaching English.  Since then, she has published many Jazz Chants series.

On November 18th, I met her for the first time.  She was a lecturer in the Jazz  Chants seminar that is held in Osaka once a year.    It was wonderful, no!, more than wonderful.   I don’t know how to express my feeling in English, but anyway, I was moved. 

One year and 8 monthes have passed since I started to teach English.   Teaching English to kids is very encouraging.   Though there are so many things that I need to learn, I want to do my best in teaching English.